Steering-gear for automobiles.



w. Noma/m. STEERING GEAR FORUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 5. |314 @Mba/1445015 WHL-m H -iT-FMAM.,

WALTER A. DITTIIAN, Ol? DfEtYlEN, MICHIGAN.

incense.

Application filed December 5, 1914.

mi) all whom t may concern.' -ilffBe it known that l, WALTER A. DITTMAN, :3i/citizen of the United States, residing at Dr den, in the county of Lapeer, and State ichigan, have invented certain new and Yuseful Improvements in Steering-Gears for Automobiles, of which the :following isa Specilication, reference being had to the accompanying drawings. l

My invention relates to automobiles, or like power driven vehicles, and particularly to the steering gear therefor'.

In the steering gear ordinarily found in automobiles and other power driven vehicles, the front wheels are actuated by a shaft having a worm engaging a worin gear operatively connected to the front wheels of the automobile, and in practice it 1s foundthat the front wheels are not held or locked in their steering positions, but

that they will cause a continual oscillaF tion of the steering wheel, thus at least on 1 a rough road, the driver of the automobile has always to exert considerable strength in order to hold the steering wheel in its adjusted position against the action of the road on the front traction wheels.

The main object of my invention is to obvviate this difficult,7 by providing a means for directing the steering traction wheels Jthereon.

A further object of the invention is to pro vide means for urging the fluid medium above referred to in one direction or the other comprising a rotatable piston mounted upon the steering post having screw threaded engagement with a cylinder whereby' the rotation ofl the post will cause the piston to move. longitudinally of the cylinder in one direction or the other.

Other objects will appear in the course ofV the following description.

Speciiicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Uecllglll.

Eierial No. 875,712.

e My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, whereinW Figure l is a side elevation of an automobile in dotted lines, showing my invention in full lines as applied thereto, the dashboard, sleeve G and cylinder 2l being partly brohen away; Fig. il is a longitudinal sect-ion of the cylinder 7 with the piston therein; Fig. 3 is a transverse section of Fig. 2; Fig. Il is a plan view in dotted lines, of an automobile wheel and axle, showing in full lines the knuckle and steering arm ofe the wheel.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and designated in all parts of the accompanying drawings by like reference numerals.

Referring to these drawings, 2 designates the dashboard of anautomobile, and3 a portion of the frame of the vehicle. jecting through the dashboard is the steel`- ing shaft 4: carrying a steering wheel 5 at its upper end and rotatably mounted in a sleeve or post G. lt is to be understood of course, that the steering wheel and post and its mounting may be of any ordinary or usual type. Disposed upon the outer side of the dashboard is a cylinder 7 closed at both ends, the circumferential wall of the cylinder being interior-ly screw threaded as at S. Preferably thc cylinder has an integral end wall 9 and a detachable end wall 1.0, and the cylinder is held in place upon the dashboard by means of any suitable lIna-cket or support l1.l The end wall 9 is formed with a gland l2through which the steering shaft t passes, and the end wall l0 is also formed with a gland 13 to receive and guide the extremity of the shaft 4. Mounted upon this shaft l is the piston l-l, which may be of any suitable construction and which is exteriorly screw threaded so as to engage with the screw threads 8. llt will be obvious, therefore, that upon a rotation of the shaft 4 and piston 14 the piston will move in one direction or the other axially of the sleeve 7, depending upon the direction of rotation of the steering wheel 5.

It will be seen that the piston divides the cylinder into two chambers, designated a and Prospaces o and l, these inlet openings being closed by suitable caps 17. These inlet open ings permit oil or other iiuid medium to be filled into the spaces o and b..

The traction AWheel 16 has the usuel steen ing arm 18 which is operatively connected to a piston rod'19. As illustrated, rthe piston rod 19 is cranked or odset at one end and is' connected to the arm 18 by ineens et s universal joint20, but l do not Wish to he limited to this detailed construction, as it is obvious that the exact formation o lthe rod 19 and its connection to the rod 1,8 'will depend upon the particular vIneke of cer to' which my device is applied und upon the location of the cylinder. 21 Within which the piston rod 19 operates. The cylinder' 21 is- Y into one end of the cylinder 21, while extending from the space o is a pipe 25 Which opens into the other 'end of the cylinder 21. The ports 26 and 27 of these pipes 2i and 25 are specedv from each other such a, distance in relation to the movement of the rod 19 that the piston 23 will not at all times, pass beyond these ports 26 and 27. lt will v be noted that these ports 26 and 2 ere conn tracted relative to the area of the piston 23,

and that the ports leading to the pipes 24- and 25 are also relatively contracted in area, to the aree of the piston 14.'

' The spaces a and b, the pipes 24 and 25, and the space on each side of thepi'ston 23 ere intended to be filled with oil or other fluid medium, but oil ispreerable.

. It will be obvious nowthat a. rotation ofthe shaft 4 in one direction will cause the movement of the piston 14 to'iard one end ofthe cylinder 7, thus compressing the oil "on that side and forcingT it through the corresponding pipe 24 011-25 and Aforcing it into the space between one end of the cylinder 21 and the piston', thereby forcing the pis-- ton in one or the other direction and carryin with it the rod 19 and correspondingly shifting the steering Wheel. Thus when the 'steering Wheel 5 is turned in a clockwise direction the piston 14 Will be forced doi'vn,-

forcing the oil into the space@ behind the piston 23 and urging the piston forward, the oil in front 'o'thc piston passing out through the .pine 24 and into the space a.

A counter-clockwise movement of the lever 5 will retract the piston, forcing the oil into the spare in front of the piston 23 and witbdrawingr the oil from the space hchimi the piston. .uyshocli or jar comniunicatcd to 141- to the messes the wheels 16 will ci course he communicated to thepiston il in c manner to causo a rota tion of the piston, which will he hold from movement by its engagement with the screw threads on the wall 'i of the main cylinder. Furthermore, inasmuch as a Huid medium is provided between the actuating, pistou and the piston 23, it is obvious that shocks or jars communicated to the steering wheels will he cushioned to sonic extent hy the Huid medium. i

llt will be obvious that the power required to shift the piston lilvivill be relatively slight and that the force exerted upon the fluid medium 'will be derived from the engage ment of the piston 1i with the screw threads,

`thns a relatively' small force applied to the steering Wheel will create relatively consid erable power transmitted from the piston It is obvious that this mechanism may he applied to any cer of ordinary type, and that the details of construction may he varied to suit the particular arrangement and construction of the car. It is also ohvious that While have described my mecha-1 nism os applicable particularly to motor vchielos, it might also be applied to the steering of vessels, in which case the piston i9 will be operatively connected with the rudder. rl ln this case also the shocks communicated to the rudder would not be transmiti ted to the helmsman, as the steering Wheel would not be subjected. to the shocks to which it is subjected at the present time.

Al-lavirig described my invention, what I claim is:

scribed, a rotate y controlled steering shaft carryingl a piston thereon, a moin cylinder Withirnt which the piston operates und throughY the end of which the steering shaft passes, a rotation of the shaft causing the sxielniovement of the shaft and of the piston Within said cylinder, a iiuid containing chamber, ay piston therein having a piston rod, the space on each. side of the last named piston being connected respectively to the space on each side of the piston in the mein cylinder, whereby fluid in seid chamber may pass to or from the spaces in the mein cylinder, and a stcerable member'opcratively connected to said piston rod.`

2. In e steering gear of the character described, a rotatably controlled steering shaft carrying a. piston, the periphery of which externally screw threaded, u moin cylinder through one end of which thcstceriiug shaft passes interiorly .screw threaded to receive said piston and closed :it its cnds,whereby a piston 23 by means of the fluid 1I in c steeringn gear of the character del lili' rotation. of the shaft und piston will cause.l

an axial movement of the piston., u Huid chamber, a. piston therein having c piston rod, the space on cach side of the piston in me this cylinder being connected to the spaces on each side of the piston in the main cylinder, whereby to permit `fluid to pass to or from Said spaces in the main cylinder into or from the spaces in the fluid chamber, and

va steerable member operatively connected to the piston rod.

3. 'ln a steering geerbt the character de-V scribed, a rotatably controlled steeringr shaft carrying 'apistozn' the periphery of which is 'externally'screwA threaded, a cylinder into which the steeringl shaft passes and Within Which the piston operates having interior screw'threads engaged with the piston, the

. filled with a Huid medium.

4. ln an automobile, a dashboard, a main cylinder mounted thereon and being in tern'ally screw threaded and closed at its ends, a steering shaft passing into the cylinder having an actuating handle, a piston carried upon the shaft, external screw threads enga ring with the walls of the cylsecond named cylinder', and a fluid medium disposed in both of said cylinders and said tubular connections, `the rst named cylinder being provided with means whereby duid mayv be illed into the cylinders and tubular connections.

5. ln a steering .mechanism of the chars acter described, a Huid cylinder having `spaced outlets, the cylinder being closed at `its ends, a steering shaft passing into one end of the cylinder and carrying an operating4 handle at its extremity and concentric to the cylinder, a piston carried by said shaft, screw threaded means for causing rectilinear movement of the piston in the cylinder upon, the rotation of said shaft, and pressure operating steering wheel actuated means operatively connected to the outlets of the fluid cylinder.

ln testimony whereof l-hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WALTER AL. DITTMAN.

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